Driver accused of killing pedestrian among July indictments for Hillsborough County

By DEAN SHALHOUP

Staff Writer

NASHUA – The Nashua woman charged with running over and killing a pedestrian in February in downtown Nashua and two men each facing a slew of domestic violence-related offenses lead the list of July indictments released Wednesday by Hillsborough County Superior Court officials.

Cara Smith, 39, of 6 Satin Ave., Nashua, was indicted by a grand jury on a single count of negligent homicide, a Class A felony, for allegedly striking Robert Derome, 63, with her vehicle as he walked near the intersection of West Hollis and Pine streets, then leaving the scene, according to police and court documents. ...
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NASHUA – The Nashua woman charged with running over and killing a pedestrian in February in downtown Nashua and two men each facing a slew of domestic violence-related offenses lead the list of July indictments released Wednesday by Hillsborough County Superior Court officials.

Cara Smith, 39, of 6 Satin Ave., Nashua, was indicted by a grand jury on a single count of negligent homicide, a Class A felony, for allegedly striking Robert Derome, 63, with her vehicle as he walked near the intersection of West Hollis and Pine streets, then leaving the scene, according to police and court documents.

A tip led police to Smith, whom they arrested March 6. Police also charged her with driving while intoxicated.

Indictments are not a finding of guilt but convey the grand jury’s determination that prosecutors have enough evidence to move the case forward at the superior court level. A full list of the indictments is available at NashuaTelegraph.com.

Meanwhile, the grand jury also indicted Rodney Curtis, 22, of Nashua, currently incarcerated at Hillsborough County Department of Corrections in Manchester, on 11 counts of domestic violence-related simple assault, all Class A misdemeanors, along with one count of criminal threatening, a Class B felony, and two counts of criminal mischief, Class A misdemeanors.

The charges stem from a May 7 incident in Nashua in which Curtis allegedly punched, slapped and pushed to the floor a female victim, also pulling her hair and grabbing her arms, and in addition punching a male victim and pushing a second female victim.

Curtis also is charged with damaging the first female victim’s apartment and with threatening her by holding a knife to her throat, the indictment states.

Alleged incidents of assault and criminal threatening also led to the indictment of former Milford resident Raymond Ferragamo Jr., who also is currently incarcerated.

Among the charges are three counts of simple assault – domestic violence, Class A misdemeanors, and one count of second-degree assault, Class B felony, which allege that Ferragamo “engaged in the strangulation” of a female victim, pulling her hair, placing his hand over her nose and mouth and drawing blood, then striking her with a coffee table April 18 in the victim’s home.

The grand jury also indicted Ferragamo on four counts of criminal mischief, Class A misdemeanors, and one count each of criminal threatening, a Class B Felony; driving while intoxicated, a Class B misdemeanor; and reckless operation, a violation.

The criminal mischief charges accuse Ferragamo of crushing the victim’s cellphone, smashing a coffee table, kicking in her front door and then carving his name in the door with a sharp object.

He is charged with threatening her by placing a gun in her mouth and telling her, “I just wanna die and you’re gonna go with me,” according to the indictments.

Two other indictments handed down this month add two new felony sexual assault charges to the case against 74-year-old Nashuan John “Jack” Holland, formerly of 3 Kessler Farm Drive, Apt. 111, now listed as living at 60 Chestnut St.

The new charges, both extended-term felonies, accuse Holland of sexually molesting a male child between March 2003 and March 2006, when the child was 9-12 years old.

Holland was indicted in April on four counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault, alleging that he assaulted a disabled victim between Jan. 1, 2012, and Jan. 6 in Nashua.

Dean Shalhoup can be reached at 594-6443 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com. Also, follow Shalhoup on Twitter (@Telegraph_DeanS).